Things are beginning to move faster. I cleaned up and edge matched the hull panels and got the bottom panels loosely stitched before I called it a day. By this time tomorrow it should actually look like a boat. Matt, you do a great job with the building plans. The suggestion for the jig to drill the stitch holes worked like a charm.

So sorry everyone. I thought I had set my album on FB for public viewing, but Al Gore's amazing internet got the better of me. Here are the pictures in photobucket:http://s300.photobucket.com/user/Sandy_ ... t=3&page=1 Please let me know if you have trouble seeing them.

Okay, I'm thinking ahead about setting up for storage and have some experimenting to do. I want to use the narrow fore and aft sections for flotation. But I don't want to buy an access hatch. I saw an ad for some Gore-Tex vents for surboards and paddleboards- has anyone tried making their own breathable vents? I'm going to try gluing a piece of Tyvek in a sandwich of ply with about a 1" hole, and using that as a breathable but watertight vent for the floatation chambers. Is Tyvek okay or should I use Gore-Tex? or should I have an access hatch?

I am no engineer by any means, but my untrained, inexperienced intuition says to me that breathable and water-tight cannot co-exist. Are air molecules all that much smaller than water molecules, that you can keep out water and let air pass through? Maybe so, I don't know.

If you're just only concerned about blocking spray or the occasional wave, and don't care whether it gets somewhat damp inside for a while, I guess breathable would be okay, but if you're aiming for totally dry, I doubt breathable would do it.

I am no engineer by any means, but my untrained, inexperienced intuition says to me that breathable and water-tight cannot co-exist. Are air molecules all that much smaller than water molecules, that you can keep out water and let air pass through? Maybe so, I don't know.

If you're just only concerned about blocking spray or the occasional wave, and don't care whether it gets somewhat damp inside for a while, I guess breathable would be okay, but if you're aiming for totally dry, I doubt breathable would do it.

Thanks Les The main idea is to take advantage of the technical fabrics to let air pressure equalize in the "sealed" flotation chamber. They let air and water vapor through but keep liquid water out. The downside is not having physical access inside the compartment.